Obsession of the week: TANGLED

There exists a very fine line between love and obsession. When I find I love something, it usually becomes an obsession rather quickly. When I read a book I love, I must find more by the same author, I must discover if there’s a sequel out there or upcoming. When I see a movie I love, I have to see it again (and again), and probably own it, its soundtrack, and… you get the idea.

This week’s love-turned-obsession? Disney’s TANGLED. (What follows is not really about the movie’s plot, so those who haven’t seen it are safe from spoilers!)

I saw this in the theater almost two weeks ago with my husband and some friends. I’d been clamoring to see this since I read a review saying that the film featured music by Alan Menken — THE Alan Menken, of ’90s Disney movie-musical fame. By the time I was six or seven, I ranked Alan Menken up there with Mozart and Beethoven and Vivaldi (names I’d learned in music class) because what child in the ’90s did not have a life-altering reaction to “Under the Sea” or “Part of Your World”?

From the very opening line (Flynn: “This is the story of how I died.”) to the song of the end credits, I was… spellbound. Captivated. I sat there and I swear to all that is good I felt like I was a kid watching BEAUTY AND THE BEAST or THE LION KING or CINDERELLA or SLEEPING BEAUTY for the first time. No Disney film has done that for me since before MULAN.

I’ll give you some history. My mother put Disney videos on for me from the time I was capable of focusing my eyes on a television screen. The songs, the stories, and the characters were imprinted upon my consciousness at an early age. The Disney Princess Movie is a permanent part of my soul. The first stories I told myself as a kid (when not attempting to write another Cam Jansen or Encyclopedia Brown mystery) were all my own made-up princess stories, because none of the real fairy tales were… well, exciting enough. (After I saw FERN GULLY and THUMBELINA my stories, briefly, became fairy princess stories. Don’t judge me.) So obsessed was I with the Disney princess movie that in third grade, at age eight, I proclaimed before the entire class I wanted to be a Disney animator when I grew up. My drawings (pretty decent for an eight-year-old) were [mostly] of princesses and I knew that after I went to art school I’d totally be drawing the next Disney princess. And even years after I realized that animators aren’t the ones who make up the story and that I was more interested in telling the story than animating someone else’s, I still look at Disney movies and there’s this strange itch I can’t scratch. Like, in another life, if the profession I’d chosen when I was eight was the one I was involved in today, maybe I’d be working on a movie like TANGLED even now. It’s almost like a kinship. We grew up together, Disney movies and I, and we share a special bond.

(Which makes me imagine me and my friend Disney Princess Movie going to lunch together, because even today I anthropomorphize everything thanks to, probably, Disney. I digress.)

So when I left the theater having seen TANGLED, I was in knots. (HA!) I wanted to see it again! I had to download the soundtrack! (When that love turns into obsession I don’t do thinks by halves.) But a couple of blocks away from the theater, TANGLED’s shortcomings started poking me… but I realized they weren’t the movie’s shortcomings at all. The poking, prodding thoughts I was having had nothing directly to do with the movie I saw but everything to do with the necessary form of the Disney princess movie and its parent, the fairy tale. The story. The tropes. I started asking questions about them when I read the original Grimm and Anderson and even Lang, which led me to studying this stuff in college, in part: tropes and themes and histories of stories like this, in medieval and early modern literature, in classic fairy tales. The old crone and the witch, the step-mother versus the mother, the innocent naif and the handsome swashbuckler.

I looked at TANGLED under this critical lens and thought, It’s still a fairy tale. Though this film had some of the best nuance and backstory of any Disney princess movie, it was still a very basic fairy tale. But what was it about Disney princess movies, I wondered, that got me to start writing my own stories? Imagining the characters and the depth and the reality behind that very basic fairy tale. THE LITTLE MERMAID hardly characterizes Eric outside of his being a handsome prince; the most exciting part of SLEEPING BEAUTY is Prince Philip’s wild ride to slay Maleficent, which relies on no involvement from the film’s titular princess. (And of course the fairies give him the sword and the shield!) I had to write my own stories — set in my own worlds, with my own crazy casts of characters — because I needed to tell stories that felt as wonderful as my favorite Disney movies but as real as my own experiences. I wasn’t a princess. I was a complicated contradiction of a child. I needed to write a story that reflected me.

So two weeks ago I realized all over again: as swoon-worthy as TANGLED was, as absolutely awesome, active, and wonderful its princess was (as Meg Cabot so beautifully points out here), it wasn’t enough for me. No Disney movie has ever been “enough” for me. Because even as a kid I wanted more. More complexity, backstory, layers, and history. Though TANGLED’s character backstories and psychologies were pretty deep stuff for a Disney film, they weren’t equivalent to the depth to be found in say, a great middle grade or YA novel. The reason why I decided when I was twelve that I needed to write novels was due in direct part to my obsession with providing my characters with the depth, backstories, and psychological growth I was missing in my favorite Disney films, because as a medium and a format they’re not exactly optimal for providing that. (And the G or PG rating? I wanted to get a little more intense with my worlds and Disney movies usually can’t do that and have the same wide-ranging appeal.)

Disney movies were the first stories I ever really started analyzing, and that analysis was what led me to realizing the important role of the writer in the genesis of a story (of course, you say, but this was revelatory for Erin the eight-year-old!). That led me to wondering what makes a good writer, a good story teller, and started me on the path that led to me taking writing course after writing course, attempting my first drawer novels, then studying writing (and critical analysis!) in college, and now to writing for real. By the transitive property, Disney movies are what led me to my chosen career. (That and Star Wars, but that’s an obsession worthy of another post.)

So in a really round-about way, seeing TANGLED reaffirmed my passion for (and obsession with) writing young adult novels.

Do you share my Disney princess movie obsession? What experience have you had with Disney movies?

3 responses
by on December 17, 2010
categorized as obsession
tagged with , , , , , , , , ,
posted by erin on December 17, 2010

http://blog.efdanehy.com/2010/obsession-of-the-week-tangled

Halfway? Not really, but yes.

It is November 16 and I should theoretically have gone into today having written 25,000 words for the month so far. NaNo’s halfway point was yesterday. But as of now I am just shy of 22K, and my brain hurts. Some days it has hurt in a marvelously good way, others in a drained, exhausted kind of way. (Today it is the latter.)

That said, because this is NaNoFinMo for me, more or less, because I have decided to be a NaNo Rebel, my word count is actually more than 50K in the document. That is more than halfway through a planned 80K draft. Which is good. Marvelous in fact. I am exactly where I need to be in so many ways — but clearly I need to spend the next 48 hours or so playing a serious game of catch up not only in the novel (I need to hit 26,667 by tonight theoretically) but also around the house. This weekend was filled with marvelous things — friends visiting from out of town! Gatherings and happenings hosted at our house! Meeting the incomparably awesome Stephanie Perkins! — but one thing I didn’t accomplish over the last few days was maintaining pace. I knew I’d fall short and I have, and I need to make up the difference. My brain melts at the thought.

But things aren’t bad, don’t get me wrong. I’m still very optimistic that the goal I set for myself will still be met. Working consistently has been key for me, as has forcing myself to be cautious about the words I use. I am not employing any of the standby NaNo tricks — extending a scene for no purpose; relying on excessive banter or funny dialogue with no purpose; dwelling on moments best glossed over or avoided through well-used scene jumps — and yes I know this is costing me time and effort but even if I “lose” NaNo and come in short of my personal goal of 50K new words, I will know that the words I am using are all good, solid words, and to me that’s the most important part. NaNo’s enthusiasm and community is helping me set and maintain a consistent output but because I am half a full time writer and I have the time and ability to put hours and hours toward this task every day, I am not letting myself squander that time with unworthy words. I am following my outline and I am absolutely in love with my characters, this world, and their story. I couldn’t ask for a better project to be tackling this month and I’m glad I didn’t put this aside and start something crazy or fresh for NaNo; I’d've missed this world too much.

Though this NaNoWriMo is turning out to be very productive and positive, it’s no less exhausting than previous NaNos; in fact I’d say it’s the hardest mentally (I’ve spent hours bashing my head on the keyboard getting a single sentence right) while the easiest physically (the dishes are done, even if the laundry isn’t folded, and I’m well fed). I miss the literary abandon of 2008′s crazy ride — when I had no idea where I was going or what scene I would write next — and I also miss 2009′s cool surety of steady (unbelievable) progress. But 2010′s NaNo, even if it doesn’t end in a completed book, will end with me very close to the end, and hopefully in December I will be able to finish it, tear it apart (gently) and build it up again, and give it over to some folks with fresh eyes. I am nothing if not exhaustingly optimistic!

3 responses
by on November 16, 2010
categorized as word count
tagged with , ,
posted by erin on November 16, 2010

http://blog.efdanehy.com/2010/halfway

It BEGINS.

I spent yesterday doing what has become customary on October 31st — no, not giving out Halloween candy (we had no Trick or Treaters!) and not going to a Halloween party. I spent the day cleaning the house and preparing for NaNoWriMo’s start today. I stocked up on groceries and caffeine, did some laundry and loaded the dishwasher — the things I will neglect or leave for my poor husband to take care of while I am feverishly attempting to hit 1,667 words a day to win the month with 50,000 words by December 1st.

This year I’m finishing my work in progress which as of 11:30 last night stood at a perfectly even 30,000 words. (So terrifically convenient for updating word count on the website; so whatever word count you see on the widget to the right? Add 30K and that’s the ms’s total.) This is a hardcore rewrite of an old project, which means 100% of the words are new, 50% of the plot and events are new, and about 5% of the characters’ traits and personalities and attributes are new. I know these character so well. I’ve known them longer than I’ve known some people in real life! But in between the day job and other distractions, I’ve been stuck under 30K on it for a while now. In September I vowed if I didn’t have this novel mostly done by November 1st I would spend NaNoWriMo finishing the darned thing. And that’s what I’m going to do. This is NaNoFinMo for me, dang it, and I will write that last page before December 1st or my fingers will be bloody from trying. (I’m overdramatic. Shush.)

I asked the kind people of the NYC meet-up for NaNo I went to last week and they were unanimously agreed that (1) because writing is what I do all year long anyway, why the heck not take advantage of NaNo and use its community and motivators to help me finish this project? And (2) it’s not cheating, to them, if the words are new. I’m not copy-and-pasting, I am writing the words from scratch from a plot that has been pretty tightly outlined and characters I know well enough to know what they’d do in a dozen of strange scenarios my husband has posed for me (hypothetically). (“Would they think this joke is funny?” “A would, but B would think you were being rude, and C would completely ignore your existence for even trying.”) The kind folks at NaNo don’t recommend going in with a book you’ve already started because they don’t feel like it promotes the true kamikaze spirit of NaNo — but that’s exactly why I need to do NaNo. As much as I adore it, I’ve been dragging on this ms. It needs some kamikaze noveling to happen to it and what better time to do that kind of writing than during NaNo?

Anyway. I’ve written five — FIVE — words as of right this moment, but I’m not planning on sleeping until I get my 1,667 minimum for the day which will undoubtedly happen once I get home from the day job.

Onward!

4 responses
by on November 1, 2010
categorized as word count
tagged with , , ,
posted by erin on November 1, 2010

http://blog.efdanehy.com/2010/it-begins

Tips from a NaNo veteran

I’ve attempted NaNoWriMo four times (2002, 2007, 2008, 2009) and I’ve won the last two years. To win is to write a minimum of 50,000 words written entirely in the month of November, keeping track of the daily wordcount on the NaNoWriMo.org website, which is entirely governed by the honor system. In both of my winning cases I won before Thanksgiving out of necessity. So considering I’ve both attempted and failed and attempted and won — the latter being much more recent than the former — I figured I’d impart a few hard-won bits of advice I learned along the way for any of you intrepid souls attempting a first time NaNo experience this year. (Any past winners out there, feel free to add your own tips and advice in the comments!)

1. Plan as much as you can in advance.

With only FOUR DAYS left, I know it’s hard, but it’s not impossible to sit down and spend three hours or so this weekend plotting and brainstorming and taking notes. Who are your characters? (What are their names? I find I waste lots of time in November if I need to suddenly create a character name.) What do they want? What are their obstacles? Literary agent Nathan Bransford has a great post to this effect, reminding NaNo-ers of the basic tenets of starting any new writing project. Once you know your protagonist, start in on the other major characters and some of the secondary characters. Give yourself as fully-fleshed-out a cast as you can before you start, if you can. If you can’t, then work on plotting an outline or figuring out other elements: settings, places, obstacles, events, Things That Need to Happen, et cetera. We all follow different creative processes and have different ways of tackling the same writing problems so I can’t speak for what may be best for your process. But the bottom line: the more you go in knowing, the less you’ll need to stop and figure out along the way.

2. Write something every day. Don’t give yourself a day off.

Pace for NaNoWriMo is 1,667 words a day, which can be a brief chapter, part of a scene, an entire scene — but it’s not overwhelming. What is overwhelming is realizing that you are 6,000 words behind pace and you need to catch up by yesterday. By writing a little each day and not taking a day off — which admittedly is hard, but NaNo is about discipline — you’ll stay on pace and far away from tearing-out-your-hair territory. That said, sometimes it’s hard to get in front of a computer, so I’ll suggest some of the things I did when I could not actually drag myself to write my 1,667 words for a day: I plotted and planned and made sure I knew what my next 3,000 or 9,000 words were going to be about. If you can’t write today, make triply sure you know what you’re writing tomorrow, or next week, because every little bit of NaNo planning helps, even when you’re in the thick of it.

3. You don’t have to start a new project for NaNo if you can find another way to get to 50,000 words.

It may seem a blasphemous thought: you can find a way to use NaNoWriMo to your best advantage, especially if you’re a writer normally. Though some would argue it’s “cheating” to do anything but the most traditional write-by-the-seat-of-your-pants kamikaze noveling for which NaNoWriMo is famous, I firmly believe — and talking to people at NaNoWriMo meet-up events, I’ve found everyone has agreed with me — that the #1 most important thing about NaNo is production. The actual 50,000 words. Not what document they’re being written for. Need to rewrite that old project you started five years ago but never got around to finishing? Do it! Have the first 20,000 words of a novel already sitting on your computer? Finish it! The nature of the challenge changes when you’re not writing-by-the-seat-of-your-pants but having done a rewrite from the ground-up last year, I can attest that even though I knew my characters and I knew the plot, writing at a NaNoWriMo pace was still breathlessly challenging. I adored every moment of it and I even finished well before Thanksgiving (which is always my personal goal). Did that make it any easier? Maybe. But I still skipped scenes (leaving big [MORE!] brackets) and for the most part had NO idea what the ending was going to be, but I didn’t let that get in the way of getting my 50,000 words done.

4. Have fun.

Don’t kill yourself to win NaNoWriMo. Shirk the chores for a few weeks — have the roommate take over dishes duty for a while! — but don’t sacrifice your first born child over it. Yes, it’s difficult, yes it can be stressful, especially if you fall behind pace — but don’t forget, you’re not alone. One of the best things about NaNo, for me, is the community aspect of the challenge. Go to the forums and talk with other NaNo-ers to get ideas or to find a place to whine to sympathetic ears. Pit yourself against strangers and friends and make it a fun competition. Find your local NaNo chapter’s in-person meet ups and go — they do word sprints and give out free prizes! But always remember: it’s okay to quit. It’s okay to finish with less than the goal, especially if you’ve never tackled the NaNo beast before, especially if you come down with a bout of the flu or the Day Job flares up and consumes your soul. It’s okay if your natural writing style or natural writing pace isn’t a minimum of 1,667 words a day; that’s a challenging pace for even a lot of professional writers. But at the same time, one of the best parts of NaNo is the fact that there are thousands of people attempting the same [seemingly] insurmountable challenge along with you, and you can succeed or fail with others, and giggle about it afterward. (Or go to your local Thank God It’s Over party on December 1st; that’s always a great way to finish the month!)

I’m downright enthusiastic about NaNo time every year because it always energizes me and gets me working. Having that little word count updater on NaNoWriMo.org acting like my ball-and-chain every day motivates me like nothing else in my writing life ever has. Seeing how many hundreds of writers are ahead of me in pace, or behind me, both challenges me and heartens me. Writing is typically a solitary profession but during the month of November when I’m writing I know I’m among friends. And I love every moment.

13 responses
by on October 27, 2010
categorized as writing
tagged with , , ,
posted by erin on October 27, 2010

http://blog.efdanehy.com/2010/tips-from-a-nano-veteran

  • the latest updates

    • recent blog posts

    • a few random posts

    • blog post categories

    • blog post archives

    • kt literary authors